Goodbyes and Hellos

A Propagator Extraordinaire

Maybe over the years you have enjoyed the hundreds of emerging bulbs for sale at Holiday Marketplace, or the hundreds of blooms in the Bulb Show? Those all were the work of senior gardener Chris Caccamo , who retired this spring after an amazing 12-year tenure.

“When she first arrived,” recalls our former Director of Horticulture Dorthe Hviid, “Chris had little professional experience with seed starting, but over the next few years she quickly mastered the magic art of coaxing thousands of plants from thousands of tiny seeds on a specified schedule, all the while keeping track of every seedling with the help of her great organizational skills and a computer. The Lexan Production Greenhouse was always bursting at the seams, especially at Plant Sale time. When the spring rush was over in the Greenhouse, Chris planted and maintained the Ornamental Vegetable Garden and the Fitzpatrick Border trying out unusual vegetables and annuals for the enjoyment and education of visitors.”

Thank you, Chris, for the many ways you have contributed to make the BBG a more beautiful place.

A Gardener Extraordinaire

We also would like to thank another senior gardener, the great Duke Douillet, who retired after 33 years (though he plans to occasionally volunteer … right, Duke?). If you didn’t know how BBG’s seed starts were organized (on cards in a shoe box), or where the pruning saws were stored, or when to start preparing for the first frost, or a myriad of other things, you went to Duke. Dorthe says she always will cherish Duke’s “dry and ever-ready sense of humor, his love and knowledge of plants, his great sense of design and color, his eloquence on many subjects, and his humility.”

Out in the Gardens

As you stroll through the Gardens this season, hopefully you’ll meet our newest gardener, Helen Bass. She is joined by Kessa McEwen (who moved from the Education Department) and our summer horticulture interns Ian Montgomery Gehrt, Victor Salinas and Addie Bagot

Welcome, a New Director of Education

We have a new director of education: Jennifer Patton. As a museum educator with a master’s degree in teaching, Jennifer ran several education departments in the New York metropolitan area. She earned a doctorate from Teachers College (Columbia University). She served as executive director of the Edward Hopper House, in Nyack, N.Y. While overseeing pandemic recovery at the arts and performance venue Basilica Hudson, in Hudson, N.Y., Jennifer moved to the Berkshires in 2021 with her three children.

"The director of education position is critical to BBG’s efforts to connect people of all ages and backgrounds to gardening and plants and inspiring them to live in greater harmony with nature," said Executive Director Thaddeus Thompson. "I know Jennifer will excel in this role, and I'm thrilled to welcome her to the BBG community."

And Welcome Back

Julian Vallen has recently joined our Education Department as camp director for the 2023 season. Originally from Baton Rouge, La., he had spent the past two summers as a BBG camp counselor. With a background in youth education and a passion for nature, Julian brings past experience and fresh eyes to this year’s Farm in the Garden Camp. Julian serves the role held by Rachel Durgin, who is now our director of Special Events.

Lost Lamb, Found Here

We are pleased to announce that our cafe, in the Center House, will once again provide sweet and savory food this season prepared by Stockbridge’s famous FrenchBerkshire fusion patisserie, The Lost Lamb, run by pastry chef/ owner Claire Raposo, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Stop in Thursdays through Sundays, from 10 to 3 p.m., and enjoy sandwiches, salads and baked goods. The cafe opens for the season on June 1 and will continue through Labor Day. Admission to the Garden is required. Yum!

Annual Meeting

Berkshire Botanical Garden will hold its annual membership meeting on May 26, 3 to 5 p.m. Everyone is invited. Professor Don Rakow will speak on “The Benefits of Time in Nature for Every Age and Every Person.”

Members attending the brief business portion of the meeting will have the opportunity to vote in the election of BBG's officers. Light refreshments will be served. Registration is recommended.

Rakow teaches in Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science and was formerly the director of Cornell Botanic Gardens. He runs Cornell's NatureRX program. Members can attend free; non-members, $35.

Garden Access for All!

Berkshire Botanical Garden is pleased to participate in the Card to Culture program, which allows individuals with an EBT, WIC or ConnectorCare card to receive free admission (ticketed events excluded).

Simply present an EBT, WIC or ConnectorCare card at the admissions desk to receive free admission for you, your family and guests.

Together with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Department of Transitional Assistance, Massachusetts Health Connector, and the Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) Nutrition Program, we are committed to increasing access to cultural experiences for all Massachusetts residents through Card to Culture. For more information, please contact our Manager of Membership and Development Mariah Baca at mbaca@berkshirebotanical.org or visit massculturalcouncil.org/organizations/card-to-culture.

A Meadow Debuts

We are pleased to announce that Garden visitors will soon experience a meadow, the way a New England meadow should be. That is to say, without the grim assemblage of bittersweet, garlic mustard, knotweed, and other invasives.

We’ll hold a ribbon cutting on Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. Located behind the Center House on 2.5 acres we acquired in 2019, the meadow required the meticulous removal of invasives and the seeding of native-dominated plant species. We’ll create a meandering path to give visitors an up-close look at an ever-changing, ecologically and aesthetically diverse and complex showpiece and destination.

Garden Transformations

If you’re familiar with our Primrose Path, Hosta Garden, Foster Rock Garden, and Lucy’s Garden you’ll notice some significant changes this summer.

With funds from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, those gardens will be expanded and/or unified into a woodland garden consisting of native and non-native ornamental herbaceous perennials. The project will improve directional flow within the garden and frame the approach toward another adjacent garden: the Pond Garden.

We began planting the woody ornamentals in the Spring, but the bulk of the planting will be done in late summer or early fall. We will emphasize plants not featured elsewhere at BBG, such as Delphinium tricorne (dwarf larkspur), Anemonopsis macrophylla (false anemone) and Glaucidium palmatum (Japanese wood poppy).

With funding from Estanne Fawer, the project also includes expansion of the iconic copper beech hedge that encircles the topiary garden (known as Lucy’s Garden) and the addition of 700 European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). The additional hedges, planted in the fashion of a labyrinth, will elevate the topiary garden’s sense of whimsy and help link Lucy’s Garden with the expanded woodland garden.

We already imagine our day campers playing among the hedges; or young couples wending their way to a lunchtime picnic beneath the gazebo; or solitary visitors savoring a slow, meditative stroll along the meandering pathways at dusk.

The combined expansions increase our planted garden space by approximately 6,500 square feet.